Row Over Policeman’s Death at Rape Protest

The body of Subhash Tomar is brought for cremation in New Delhi, Dec. 25.

Tuesday’s death of a policeman who had been involved in facing off with demonstrators in New Delhi over the weekend has added new drama to protests over the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus earlier this month.

News of the rape of the woman, who has not been named, drew thousands of protesters on to the streets of New Delhi at the weekend, calling for harsher sentences for rapists and better policing of the capital’s streets.

Advertisement

The protests started off calmly on Saturday but later turned violent. Some eyewitnesses said the police were quick to fire tear gas and water cannons at what were initially peaceful protests. A photo of police beating a man cowering on the ground while an old woman hugged him was splashed across many newspapers.

But police have a different take. The city’s police chief, Neeraj Kumar, claimed the protesters were infiltrated by “lumpen elements” – that’s Marxist speak for Delhi’s unemployed underclass. Those elements injected violence into the protests, police claim. By Sunday, protesters overturned at least one car, leading authorities to shut down the center of the city on Monday.

Now, the police are saying a police constable, Subhash Chand Tomar, died Tuesday due to a heart attack triggered by injuries he sustained while being beaten by protesters on Sunday.

A city police spokesman told India Real Time that they arrested eight men Monday for the death of the 47-year policeman, on suspicion of intent to murder, rioting and destruction of public property. The eight were released on bail later that day.

However, two eye-witnesses, Yogendra and Pauline, who were taking part in the protests, told Indian television channels that Mr. Subhash Chand Tomar had collapsed while running behind the protesters, and that he wasn’t beaten up by as claimed by the police.

“He fell down in front of me. He had no injuries but was sweating profusely,” Ms. Pauline, who gave only one name, said.

T.S. Sidhu, the medical superintendent at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital – where Mr. Tomar was treated before he died – told TV channels that the policeman had suffered a heart attack but didn’t have any “major external injuries.”

There were about 85 injuries during the weekend violence, including police and protesters, according to police officials. Delhi’s lieutenant governor, Tejinder Khanna, on Tuesday slammed the police and said two policeman have been suspended for use of excessive force during the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the government appointed a retired judge Wednesday to identify any failure of the police or other authorities for the rape, Finance Minister P.Chidambaram told reporters. The retired judge will submit a report in three months.

The rape on Dec. 16 of the physiotherapy student has caused widespread anger. The rape occurred on a moving chartered bus that was illegally picking up public passengers. Six men, including the bus driver, have been charged for rape and kidnapping but their trial is yet to begin.

The six men are accused of gang-raping the woman for nearly an hour, police said. They also allegedly beat her and a male companion with metal rods as the bus continued to circle the city’s roads for hours, even crossing police checkpoints. The couple was later stripped of their clothing and thrown out of the bus near a highway on the periphery of Delhi, police said. The rape was so savage that the woman had to have large amounts of her intestines removed, her doctors said.

Meanwhile, the scale of protests has fallen sharply since Sunday. On Wednesday, a few hundred people, mainly students, protested at Jantar Mantar – a monument of astrological calculating instruments just north of India Gate. Urbashi, a 24-year-old student who only gave one name, said she will continue to protest.

“It is not about a single rape incident, it is about all rape, molestation and harassment cases. We are demanding our right to walk safely on roads,” she told India Real Time. “We no longer fear the wielding stick of the police. We are also not deterred by thin attendance today as this is an independent movement and people keep coming as and when they have time,” she added.

On Wednesday, authorities continued to keep in place an emergency law banning groups of more than four people congregating in some public areas that it had invoked on Sunday. It however had removed all traffic restrictions. “There is some relaxation for peaceful protests at some areas,” the police spokesman said.

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.